A road safety company has been fined £660,000 after a worker was blinded when a drum he was working on exploded.
Maidstone Crown Court heard how Andrew Foster, an employee at Kent-based Highway Care, was using a plasma cutter to cut up a drum that had previously contained a flammable substance.
Foster suffered life threatening injuries when the drum exploded in his face causing complex head and brain injuries.
He has permanently lost vision in his right eye and now has very limited vision in his left eye.
An HSE investigation into the incident, which occurred on 6 August 2012, found that the company failed to ensure the health and safety of its employees.
Highway Care pleaded guilty to safety breaches and was fined £660,000 and ordered to pay costs of £33,358.46.
Foster had to be put into an induced coma by consultants at King’s College Hospital, in London, and he woke from his ordeal a month later. He still cannot remember the blast and has had to have nine operations – and is likely to undergo many more.
A bleed on his brain also led to short-term memory problems and his speech is affected by a hole in his mouth.
Caroline Fullman, inspector at HSE, said: “Andrew Foster has been left with devastating injuries that will impact on the rest of his and his family’s lives. This incident could have resulted in a fatality.
“If a welding torch or plasma cutter is used on a tank or drum that has contained or contains a flammable substance, it can explode. It only takes a small amount of residue to create a potentially flammable atmosphere.
“Mr Foster wants others to learn of the risk of hot work on drums and tanks – he was previously unaware of the risk.”
